Gree's Dong Mingzhu Is Most Powerful Chinese Businesswoman: Fortune

Gree Electric Appliances President Dong Mingzhu was ranked the most powerful woman in business in China, as shown on Fortune China's list of the 25 most powerful Chinese businesswomen, released on November 14, 2014.

Dong is followed by Great Wall Motor's president, Wang Fengying, who leapt from last year's 12th-place ranking. SOHO China's CEO, Zhang Xin, took the third slot.

In Fortune's 2014-published 25 Most Powerful Chinese Women in Business list, there are nine new faces.

Climbing one position from last year's list, Dong led the world's largest air conditioning company to achieve revenue of 120 billion yuan (U.S. $20 billion) in 2013.

While maintaining her company's momentum, Dong continues to motivate her team to challenge themselves. And now, Gree is leading China's air conditioning market, boasting a 45-percent market share.

Ranked as number 2, Wang is the first-ever woman to reach a senior management position within China's automotive industry. Ever since starting at Great Wall Motor as a salesperson back in 1991, she has rapidly emerged as a key figure in the development of the company. Currently, Great Wall Motor is China's largest manufacturer of sport utility vehicles, and its short-term goal is to leapfrog Jeep in sales.

Second runner-up on the list is Zhang Xin, who has led SOHO China to make outstanding strides even despite the bleak real estate market that China has seen since the start of 2014.

In the first half of 2014, Zhang's real estate company grossed 4.75 billion yuan (U.S. $775 million), up 83 percent year-on-year, with a net profit of 2.7 billion yuan (U.S. $440 million) — an increase of 29 percent from last year.

This year, Zhang and her husband, Pan Shiyi, on behalf of SOHO China, donated U.S. $15 million to Harvard University and U.S. $10 million to Yale University to help establish scholarship programs. SOHO China plans to donate U.S. $75 million more to prestigious overseas schools, all to help China's disadvantaged undergraduate students study at world-class universities.

The women on the list are from various sectors, including manufacturing, banking, communication, e-commerce, automotive industry, real estate, as well as other Internet-related sectors.

The other women who made the cut for the list's top 10 are China General Technology's general manager, Li Dang (new to the list, 4th); Huawei's chairperson, Sun Yafang (5th); GE China's president, Duan Xiaoying (new, 6th); Alibaba Group's CTO, Peng Lei (new, 7th); Morgan Stanley China's CEO, Sun Wei (8th); HTC's chairperson, Cher Wang (new, 9th); and Chrysler China's president, Zheng Jie (new, 10th).

The other new names on the list include Alibaba Group's CFO, Wu Wei (12th); Swatch China's president, Chen Suzhen (20th); Poly Real Estate's chairperson, Song Guangju (21st); and L'Oreal Paris China's vice-president, Lan Zhenzhen (25th).

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(Women of China)